Company information

Hidden depths

With bases as geographically diverse as Fort William and Tasmania, the Underwater Centre trains commercial divers and remotely operated vehicle operators.

“We are based in these locations as they provide access to sheltered water 100m deep, which we require to train in saturation diving,” says the company’s Director, Chris Williams.

“We have the right people with the right attitude, experience and expertise”

“In Fort William, we also provide a highly realistic and cost-effective testing environment for companies looking to develop and test new subsea equipment. Our aim is to be the world’s most highly regarded provider of subsea training and the UK’s leading subsea trials and testing venue,” says Chris.

The company’s major strength, says Chris, is its people. “We have the right people with the necessary combination of attitude, experience and expertise to underpin our delivery of high-quality training and other services.”

Such a variety of skills has enabled it to capitalise where others could not. “One of the most significant recent opportunities has been to introduce training in Russian language to a market in which our level of training was not previously available,” says Chris. “We built on that to win a further contract in Russia, our largest to date.”

85% – The proportion of the company’s graduates who now work in the subsea industry

Chris says the company has also worked with the oil and gas industry to develop new Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) training that was previously unavailable and is unique worldwide.

“We have developed a new range of courses that address many of the industry’s competency issues, helping to bring down operating costs for ROV companies and improve operator safety.”